Gratitude
by PaperCutVictim
Summary: Post-Matsuribayashi-hen. At Rika's invitation, Akasaka stays for the Watanagashi festival. While attending, he thinks on what has happened, and is later given thanks by Rika... though he could probably have done without it.


DISCLAIMER: I do not own the sheer awesomeness that is Higurashi. If I did, it would not be even half as awesome as it is today, because I would not have the heart to put such adorable characters through such misery, or ruin such beautiful character relationships. Annoyingly enough, the emotionally devastating aspect is part of what makes Higurashi shiploads of win…

* * *

There really was nothing quite as refreshing as the air in the mountains, he had to say. He hadn't really gotten a chance to appreciate it for most of his current "visit" to Hinamizawa, as the life of a little girl and her entire village had been at stake, but now that it was all over, Akasaka Mamoru was able to take a moment to pause and just breathe the fresh air.

_This is definitely something I could never get in the city._

He cringed a little, remembering the events that had played out up until this moment, and thanking his good fortune that he hadn't received any particularly noticeable injuries, like a stab wound or a bullet hole. _That_ would have been pretty hard to explain to Yukie, considering he had told her he was only handling a minor (and of course, safe) investigation. Akasaka could just imagine how _that_ would have played out...

_"Ahaha...! Well, you see, Yukie, um... well, there was... Er, no... Um... Well, you know, a funny thing happened on the way to the office that morning!"_

Yeah. Right.

It wasn't that Yukie would have been angry with him for lying to her, since she had always suspected he, if not outright lied about his work, at least kept the worst of what he did from their family. But she would have been upset over the fact that he had gotten himself injured again on the job, and would have begun worrying again about the very real possibility that one day, he would walk out the door to go to work and wouldn't come home. It wasn't like he didn't worry about that himself.

Akasaka sometimes found himself wondering what they would possibly tell his little girl if he ever came home dead one of these days.

But he supposed he could leave those dark thoughts for another day. And besides, even if one of the Yamainu members had managed to land a bullet or knife on him, surely Yukie wouldn't be too upset once he explained the story. Akasaka had always been very true to his namesake, and had been dedicated from when he was very young to protecting people that needed his aid. Furude Rika was no exception, especially after she had saved his family with her prophecy.

He smiled a bit while gazing up at the stars. He was sure that many people would say he was crazy for believing a little girl's "prophecy", but he was actually very certain that Rika had saved his wife when she had told him to go back to Tokyo five years ago. Akasaka sent a silent thanks to the girl as he continued up the path to the festival taking place at the Furude Shrine.

Admittedly, he had not meant to stay for this, but after Rika had implored him to at least stay for the festival before returning home, gazing up at him with those pleading amethyst eyes, there was no way for him to refuse. Akasaka had to admit that, despite his short acquaintance with the girl, he had grown very fond of her and had been all too happy to be of assistance to her when it was clear that he was needed. It had never sat well with him that Rika had saved his family, and he had never been able to pay her back. At least now their score was settled, not that he would ever object to assisting her again if needed.

Especially if she looked at him with those watery violet eyes and uttered a soft "Mii..." There was no one who was humanly possible of resisting that, he was sure.

Akasaka looked around at the festival grounds, amazed at the sheer size of it. It was perhaps larger than some of the festivals they had back home in Tokyo! He also noted that not all of the festival goers were locals, judging from how some of the visitors seemed very much like city folk.

_Maybe if I can get some time off next year, I should ask Yukie to see if she'd like to come here with Miyuki._

Near one of the stands, he noticed the members of the Rika's after school club having a contest of sorts, a takoyaki eating contest. Akasaka winced as he watched the brown-haired boy gobbling down the steaming hot treats, in obvious pain even as he attempted to persevere. In fact, they all were, though he noted the shopkeeper watching them with undisguised amusement. The boy was the first to succumb to the pain. He grinned, watching them from afar as the green-haired girl announced the boy to be the loser as he practically choked on the food, chugging down ice cold water almost as quickly as he could refill his cup.

The boy stood up, snarling at the girl, who was calmly replying to him with a cocky grin on her lips. He noticed the boy saying something else, though he could not make it out amidst the din of the festivities around him, but he noted the girl looking down and away, a slight blush on her face. Akasaka smiled fondly.

_I remember when Yukie and I were like that, though I would have been the one blushing, not her._

He chuckled at the memory of his and Yukie's high school years, but his reminiscing was cut short as Rika took note of his presence and ran up to him excitedly.

"Mii! Akasaka!" she called out happily, throwing her arms around his waist.

He blinked at how happy she seemed that he was here, but allowed himself a fond grin. "Hey there, Rika-chan."

As he pet her hair affectionately, she smiled up at him. "Mii~ I'm glad you could make it! I wasn't sure if you were going to actually come."

Akasaka smiled, squatting so that they were at eye level. "Well, you invited me, right Rika-chan? It'd be rude of me to decline without even saying anything."

"Mii~ I guess that's so. Nipaa~" she responded, her expression lit up with joy.

She began to tug him by his arm toward the rest of her friends, and Akasaka found himself noticing that she seemed _extra_ happy tonight. No... it wasn't quite that. She just seemed so... free.

For some reason, he found himself recalling something he had seen before, something that was a bit like a memory, but couldn't have been, as he knew that it had never happened. He and Rika had been standing on the view of the Furude Shrine overlooking the rest of the village, and they had been talking. Or rather, he had been listening to her with growing astonishment as she spoke, but she had not been using the cute, childish voice she was using now. She had been speaking as if she were a full grown woman, a soft, smooth voice that should have been impossible for a girl her age, her eyes filled with an infinite sadness that made her seem ancient.

The worst part was that there was more than just sadness in her words. There was despair, a despair that was like a horrible acid eating her from the inside out. She had gripped the bars of the railing as she spoke to him, and she was speaking in a manner that was anguished and desperate, thrashing around and trying to find something, _anything, _that would keep her from drowning in whatever black sea was threatening to swallow her up.

Even when he had encountered her before, he had always thought there was something a bit off about this cute little girl he beheld. She still had that innocently happy demeanor that only children could replicate, but if he looked deep enough into her eyes, he could see the shadows that lurked inside of the girl's soul.

The words from his vision would haunt him even in his waking hours, the last words she would say before he woke up.

_I don't want to die..._

The words had always wrenched his heart, especially when he would think of little Rika. He had always remembered her in his prayers, hoping that she would have a long and happy life, but never truly able to forget that darkness he'd seen in her eyes.

And yet, looking at her now, it was as if that darkness had never been there. She seemed so free, so openly happy, much like the facade she had shown him during their first meeting, except it was real. Akasaka watched Rika playing with her friends, the various games and contests her club would enjoy themselves with, and he had even been dragged into a few of them. Every so often, the purple-haired girl and Rika would exchange glances, looks that had meaning for them both, but that none around them could decipher even if they ever detected them. In these moments, Rika would temporarily seem ancient again, but her eyes would still be glowing with joy.

_Am I thinking too hard...? Maybe I'm going crazy?_

Perhaps that was it... He doubted it would be post-traumatic stress disorder, but he did have to admit that many of the things that had happened involved far more excitement than he had bargained for. After all, who would possibly think that a little girl could look ancient at all? One as adorable as Rika, no less!

_Yes_, Akasaka thought, watching Rika facefault as the redhead girl spun her around jubilantly, exclaiming how she was going to take her home. _I'm definitely thinking too hard._

* * *

The festival was mostly over now, Rika's ceremonial dance having ended some time ago, and everyone was now taking part in the cotton drifting part of the Watanagashi festival. Akasaka wasn't sure he fully understood the meaning (and there was a cynical part of him that wondered if there might not be a more sinister meaning to it), but took part anyway, setting his cotton ball adrift in the river. He watched it float on, one among the hundreds following the current, and smiled to himself. He hadn't been in Hinamizawa for very long, however he found himself hoping that this village would find peace and be able to celebrate many more Watanagashi festivals in the future. After all the horrific tragedies that had happened here, he firmly believed this quiet village had seen enough misfortune to last them a hundred years at least, a sentiment he was sure everyone would agree with.

He stood up from his squatting position by the river, stretching his back and the rest of his muscles. Akasaka was about to turn away to go to back to his hotel room after bidding his farewells, but he was halted by the sight of Rika standing before him.

She was no longer wearing the robes from her ceremonial dance, clad instead in a simple green sundress. Her hands were clasped behind her back as she looked up at him, her mouth shaped into a gentle smile. Akasaka smiled affectionately at her as he kneeled so they were at eye level.

"What're you doing here, Rika-chan?" he chided lightly. "It may be a festival night, but you should still be careful when it's dark."

"Mii~ I'm a big girl, Akasaka," she chirped happily. "And I can find my way around the village even with my eyes closed!"

"Is that so?" he asked, smiling indulgently at her.

"It is!" A wide smile and her trademark "Nipaa!" accentuated her reply.

Akasaka chuckled and pet her hair affectionately. Who couldn't love this girl? He had toyed with the idea every so often about adopting her as a daughter, but Rika seemed content to live in Hinamizawa, and that was a choice he respected. Even when that darkness lurked in her deep amethyst orbs, she had still loved this village.

_Ah well_, he thought, a bit resignedly. _It's too bad. I'm sure Miyuki would have liked an elder sister to look up to._ He had a feeling the two would have gotten along wonderfully.

He was interrupted from his musings when Rika suddenly threw herself at him. Her small arms wrapped around his neck, and she held him tightly, pressing herself against him. Akasaka was too surprised to hug back, taken off guard by the sudden display of affection.

"Rika-chan?"

"Akasaka."

Any movement he had been about to make was now frozen, any thought in his head brought to a screeching halt at the sound of her voice.

That voice...

He remembered it from his dreams, that soft, mysterious voice, the one that had radiated infinite sorrow, but at this point held nothing but a gentle happiness. The voice that was far too adult to belong to a little girl like Furude Rika...

Yet here she was, speaking into his ear, her warm breath feeling uncomfortably intimate.

"I wanted to thank you," she continued, her gentle adult voice filling his ear. "I am grateful to you, and to everyone who believed and helped me. I don't know how much of the other worlds you may remember, but this is the first time where you have come to help me. It seems you were one of the knights I needed to beat fate, to break free at last."

_Wh...What?_ But despite how confused he was, Akasaka could do nothing but listen, completely astonished.

"I can never wholly convey my gratitude to you. Words are simply incapable of expressing the full extent of it. But I hope that one day you will understand how deeply I thank you. You've saved me from a fate that I had begun to believe, had believed many times, was my lot in life, an unbreakable destiny that I could not fight. With your help, and the help of those who are precious to me, you showed me that fate truly can be defeated, that destiny can indeed change."

A shuddering breath filled his ear, causing a shiver in Akasaka's body. In a quiet voice charged with emotion, she whispered, "Thank you."

She gave him a tight hug again, and pulled away a little, but her hands were still clasped around his neck. Akasaka stared dumbly at her, barely even registering the fact that her face was far too close to be comfortable. The smile on her face was not of childish glee. It was an expression that was far too adult to belong to her, and yet he was seeing it right now. The full moon illuminated her, and there was no trick of lighting or anything he could use as an excuse to say that he was not reading her expression properly. Her eyes shone with all the emotion she had poured into the words she had told him, and with something more.

Suddenly, she lunged at him, but this time, she was not aiming for his shoulder. Rika found her mark easily.

His lips.

Akasaka's eyes widened as Rika closed her own. Their lips were pressed together in a gentle kiss that effectively annihilated whatever was left functioning in his brain. It was an innocent kiss, but the fact this was _Rika-chan_ doing this was something he would have never thought of in a million years. His lips were completely unresponsive, his brain still trying to catch up on what had just happened and what was going on, but Rika pulled away just as he thought he had finally caught up.

The girl that was not quite a girl panted breathlessly, her eyes shining with happiness and a very light flush coloring her cheeks. "I've been wanting to do that for some time," she admitted softly, her now child-like voice carrying a faint hint of shyness.

Akasaka still stared blankly at her, his brain officially broken.

Rika smiled, this one striking an odd balance between her innocent, childish smile, and also a more adult smile, one that was (oh Oyashiro-sama or whatever deity would listen, please let it not be so otherwise his brain would go into permanent failure) perhaps more than just a tad seductive.

One of her tiny hands began to caress his face in a far, far, _far_ too intimate manner. Her adult voice spoke now, the words playful and clearly enjoying what she was doing to him, but at the same time, tinged with regret.

"If only you were a bit younger... or this body a few years older..."

His jaw dropped, then his mouth began to open and close a few times, unable to formulate any coherent words. It was some time before any sound would actually emerge. "R... R-Rika... chan... Y-You..."

Her smile became fully childish now, as she uttered a very pleased "Nipaa~"

Akasaka was not given the opportunity to say anything more as she began to head back toward the festival, and doubtless, her friends. She paused for a moment as she called happily over her shoulder, "Bye, Akasaka! Come visit me again soon! Nipaa!"

He waved half-heartedly, staring after her retreating form while still processing what had just happened. Akasaka sat down hard on the riverbank, staring vacuously at the pebbles that glistened in the moonlight. They were seemingly sniggering at his expense.

Hell, even the cicadas sounded as if they were laughing at him.

Well... he had certainly learned something new today... Furude Rika could be a precocious little girl when she wanted to be...

..............

Akasaka resolved at that moment that, even if it was the last thing he did, he was going to make sure his wife never found out about what had happened on this day.

_Especially_ what had happened just now.

..............

Yukie would have never let him live it down.

* * *

"That certainly surprised me. I have to admit... I'm very shocked at your boldness..."

Soft laughter. "I am too. But can you blame me? I'm _very _happy, after all, and I thought that was as good a moment as any. Besides, I did mean what I said to him. It's a pity, but I suppose that can't be helped. At least I know I won't have to endure the curse of this child body forever."

"Hau au au... It's just that it's not like you to be impulsive, Rika."

"That is true. However, I thought it'd be nice to be impulsive for once."

"Well... As long as you're happy, Rika. Hau!"

"I am, Hanyuu. I am. And for the first time in so long, I am looking forward to tomorrow."

"Hau au, me too! Although... Well, I was thinking..."

"...What?"

"Hau au au... well... it's just kind of odd to think that you've been through all these worlds, and you'd never been kissed before. So basically, it's like after a hundred years, you've finally had your first kiss! And I guess it's kind of funny to have such a late start. Of course, you had more to deal with than the average child, and- Kyaa! No! Rika, stop! Hau au au! Please! No, no, no! L-L-Little children mustn't drink alcohol! Hau au au! I beg you, stop, Rika! No! If you drink so much at once, I'll feel yucky desu...!"

_Fin_

* * *

I had fun writing this one. It's a damn shame that I haven't written anything for Higurashi yet, even though I'm a big fan of the series, so I thought I'd throw this out there. I hardly ever see Akasaka get the credit that I feel he deserves, and I feel a lot of people underestimate his role in helping little Rika-chama break free of the repeating June. Then again, I'm a bit of an Akasaka fanboy, so bleh.

About the "desu" bit, I was strongly considering not putting the word in there, since I was trying to keep it in one language for as much as possible, however, ultimately... I couldn't resist. Yes, the line was based off a similar Hanyuu line in the 6th episode of Higurashi Kai, and _admit it_, that part was adorable!!!

The (one-sided) Rika x Akasaka slant might seem sudden, and I apologize if anyone feels that way, but I had been intending to write it that way. I don't think a one-sided Rika x Akasaka is at all out of the question (One-sided though. For crying out loud, the man is married and has a daughter!), and the way I wrote them here (Rika crushing on him, and Akasaka thinking "oh, she'd be cute as a daughter") is how I basically envision them. I'm not condoning cradle robbing (or in this case, grave robbing), mind you, I just think that a one-sided version of this pairing is an adorable idea. Especially how I made her fluster poor Akasaka, that was a lotta fun. XD I got the idea for that bit from a video on Youtube that parodies the Kodomo no Jikan ending with the Higurashi characters, that's worth a watch.

Anyway, that's about it. Oh, I'm sorry for the choppiness, the majority of this piece was written in a very stream-of-thought kind of manner, and even when I went back to edit it, I couldn't really smooth it out. What you just read is the final product, and that was about as good as it was gonna get. XD At any rate, I thank you for reading up to this point, and I please ask that you leave me a review. Flames will be enslaved and forced to cook my food, constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated.

'Til next time!


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